Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1887-07-21
SPORT IN ALASKA.
Rivers Crowded with Salmon and the Air
FuN Of Flying Game

SVOnS uN AAASkAs
Rivers Crowded with Salmon and the Al.
Fun Of Flying Game
At Nuchuk any amount of sport d
obtainable. To begin with. the rivers
TEEN with salmon. These are of va.
riOus kinds. The rivers close BY
Nuchuk contain the hog-back. the dog,
and the silver varieties. There are
three miles to traverse to reach tho
nearest river, and here trusted my.
self To one of the far-famed bidarkies.
The first one was too small, but the
next was large enough. and. with an
Indian boy in the hatch behind to help
me paddle. away We went across the
bay. Alongside was dashed our salmon
spear. The water was absolutely filled
with fish. l disdained the hog-back,
and would have nothing but the silver
salmon He was only to be found in
the upper pools. The river Swallowed
and became a mere brOoklet.
/ The salmons backs projected above
the surface. for the depth was four
inches exactly. Rows of the fish were
working their way upstream out of
the Sea, and they scuttled away as we
advanced, wetting us from head to
foot, like miniature steamers with their
propellers half out of the water. But the
silver salmon We were in quest of were
taking their ease in dignified manner
at the bottom of deep, placid pool
overshadowed by trees, and it required
all the length We could command in
the handle of our spear to reach them
at that depth. We stepped cautiously
on to a projecting rock, and gradually
inserted the point of the spear into the
water. The first two lunges were sue
cessful. and each time lordly ishwas
lifted on to the bank. struggling furi-
ously. When ut last we tired of the
sport ten salmon were all that we
dragged behind us to the canoe. There
were plenty of sea trout. too; the bot
tom of the pool appeared to be paved
with something dark and cloudy that
swayed to and fro with the current like
masses of weed. But by degrees as We
watched the weed masses we perceived
them to be sea trout, and by darting
the spear among them at random we
trans6xed three FOUNDER, which
looked inviting with his bright-rd
spots.
We shot half q dozen ducks on the
way back. and might have. bagged a
dozen more without going out of our
way, had it not been such a work of
art to charge the old muzzle-loading
trade-gun while sitting in the canoe.
Some OF the ducks were black, with
red feet and short-pointed tail; an
other kind of duck had white spot
upon its forehead, and white bill, red
at the extremity, as though it were adj
dicted to intemperance. Other ducks
are black with white heads. or brown
with deep blue head and neck, or white
with red bill. A flock Of one thou
sand coots tapped along the surface as
we disturbed them. and two thousand
black and white wings beat the water
with ringing, musical sound, like a
dozen chimes of distant BELLS. Some
wild swans showed up white against
the forest, and four or five long strings
Of wild geese got up with harsh, un-
tuneful cries.
Shooting from Nuchuk on other &C.
casions bagged heron. snipe, ptarmi-
gan and blue grouse. When one of
the latter was discovered, usually on
the lower branches of spruce tree, it
was useless to attempt to induce it to
fig. It only remained to retire to such
q distance that the bird should not be
blown to pieces and destroyed as food.
One lovely October morning l found
myself gliding smoothly across the
CLASSY waters of Prince Williams
Sound We were determined to shoot
some of the marmOts which inhabit |
most of the mountain tops below the
snow line, and running our bidarky
ashore we disembarked. A small brown |
speck seen far away among the trees
was q brown bear. At one moment = |
rush of wings startled us as a flock of |
half-white ptarmigan flew down from
above us; at another the shrill whistle |
of one of the marmOts we had come to |
hunt. A careful scrutiny enabled us to !
see him sitting by his hole. and steady |
shot secured us our dinner for the next |
day. and a very good one. too.-Fort-
nightly Reriew.
PRECOCITY OF IDIOTS.